Stay Forever Strong
by Mushroom Mutiny
Summary: Iggy is a corporal in the Imperial army, after the emperor has been taken down and the rebellions have turned into the republic. He faces struggles of love, power and death as he makes his way through the life of a stormtrooper.
1. Iggy's New Squad

Hello all, I'd like to welcome you all to my first story on fan ficiton. There is one thing I would like to point out before the story begins so that there is no confusion. the story is entirely written in third person but will follow Ignacio "Iggy" Scruggs. Thanks for reading, write a review if you liked it, and write a review if you hated it!

Iggy was not particularly worried even though no one was ever called down to his squad leader's office since she was someone who liked her privacy. He thought maybe she finally accepted his romantic advances on her and was going to confess her love to him. Although she was a Twi'lek and he was not usually attracted to alien species she was an exception, he wasn't sure what it was but something about her screamed for his attention. The numerous rejections only encouraged him to try harder and since she never showed any emotions other than the hardened veteran look she always had, he thought that he was beginning to make progress. The second he walked through the door and saw her standing next to an older man in a crisp gray uniform and a small grey goatee, he knew his assumptions were wrong. The two senior officers stopped their small talk when Iggy walked into the office, he remembered his etiquette and threw a sharp salute and stood at attention with his hands clasped behind his back. His squad leader was nearly scowling at him and the older officer motioned for him to take a seat. Iggy cautiously took a seat, feeling like he was getting set up for a trap.

TheOfficer with the goatee looked down at a clipboard he was holding and then back up at Iggy.

"Ignacio B. Scruggs." The officer said with an inflection that made it impossible to tell if he was asking a question or whether he was merely stating a fact.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence before the officer went on. "I am Gunnery Sergeant Stays, I assume you know why you are here."

Iggy was caught off guard. "No sir, I have no idea why I was called down, sir"

GSG Stays raised an eyebrow and glanced over at his squad leader. "Senior sergeant Agol'ra here," He motioned toward his squad leader "She tells me that you sexually harass her nearly every day and it has come to a point where it is beginning to interfere with her missions."

Iggy was taken aback. "I don't know what you're talking about sir, I wasn't aware that I was harassing anyone. "

His squad leader, who had been silent and sitting at her desk up until that point suddenly burst out of her seat, grabbed Iggy by the collar of his uniform, lifted him out of his chair and pushed him back again a wall face.

"You know damn well you've been harassing me, how dare you lie about it in the presence of two senior officers."

GSG Stays spoke up. "Take a seat Agol'ra."

She didn't loosen her grip. "If I ever catch you coming on to me again, I will personally break your jaw so no other woman has to listen to the shit that comes out of your mouth."

"That's enough!" Shouted the gunnery sergeant.

His squad leader let go of him, smoothed out his uniform with a politeness that only instilled fear into him. He stood against the wall for a moment longer before realizing that gunnery sergeant Stays war waiting for him to sit back down.

"Senior sergeant Agol'ra has suggested you be removed from Crater squad."

Iggy just nodded furiously, not looking up because he could feel the cold stare of his squad leader's eyes on him.

"Then that is all, I expect you to get your things packed from the barracks and we will send a datapad shortly informing you of your new accommodations, you are dismissed corporal."

Iggy jumped up and threw a hasty salute then shuffled out of the office, he could hear the gunnery sergeant scolding his old squad leader for being so violent. He leaned back against the wall, people gave him quick glances as they walked by but he didn't mind. His heart finally began to go down to its normal rate and his head began to clear, he had never been so intimidated by a woman in his life. He began the short walk back to the barracks, hopefully if he got there early enough, his squad mates would still be out, finishing up their training so he could pack his things and go in peace.

When he arrived, he immediately began to pack but with each thing he put into his boxes he felt more and more crushed. The gunnery sergeant had not mentioned a transfer and he had not said that he would be relocated to another barracks. Iggy's dream was to make it to the top of the army, and he realized now that his dream may have just been crushed. Furthermore, his father would be furious. It took years of convincing since his early childhood to let get his father to allow him to join the army instead of joining the successful family trading business. If he ever got word that he was kicked out of the army for sexual harassment he would never live it down and would always be a failure in his father's eyes.

He kept packing, moving at a quicker pace, thinking that the sooner he finished, the sooner the feeling would pass but even after he had gotten his things and left the barracks he felt like a weight was sitting on his shoulders. As he was about to leave from the front of the barracks a young boy came running up to him and handed him a datapad.

"From gunnery sergeant Stays." The boy saluted and then ran off.

Iggy was almost afraid to look at the datapad, but did so since the daylight was beginning to fade. When he read the first two lines he felt the weights leave his shoulder and he let out a sigh of relief and exhaled. He had been unaware that he was holding his breath.

"You have been transferred to Phalanx Squad. Please familiarize yourself with your squad mates, they are preparing to embark on a mission in a week's time. The sooner you create a bond with them the better. "He read on, his punishment was stated out. "You have also been put on probation, any bad reports from any of your superiors and you will have to go to court and we will determine at that time whether you are going to be held responsible and whether or not you will be court-martialed. The administration takes things like this very seriously. . ."

Iggy didn't bother reading the rest, it was all crap he had heard and read before while he was going through the academy. He did make a mental note to watch his behavior, not wanting to repeat anything that had happened with Crater Squad. He followed the instruction on the datapad to the location of the barracks and when he swiped his ID card, the doors opened with a silent gush of air. The barracks looked nearly identical to his old one other than a chessboard and a pool table in the corner.

Out of the shadows a hand grasped his shoulder, Iggy jumped and nearly punched the man in the face. The man laughed, "Whoa there, I'm , master sergeant Briggs, your new squad leader. The others should be returning soon so make yourself comfortable."

Iggy saluted his new squad leader, "I'm corporal - "

"Ignacio B. Scruggs, but you go by Iggy right? I've read your whole file." Master sergeant Briggs cut in, smiling.

Iggy nodded, and then began to wonder if he knew everything about him. As if reading his mind master sergeant Briggs began talking again.

"I know about your little run in with Akol'ra, but between you and me, she's a hot head, you wouldn't want her anyways." He said with a wink.

Iggy was taken aback by the informality of his new squad leader, but he couldn't say that he was complaining. Iggy smiled and thanked his new squad leader for understanding. He took a seat on the couch in front of the holonet and turned it on after master sergeant Briggs left the barracks to return to his own personal room. Iggy nervously waited for his new squad mates to arrive as he flipped through channel after channel, using the noise to fill up the emptiness of the room.


	2. Iggy's First Mission

Iggy had dozed off on the couch to the sound of the holonet, it had been a long day for him and even the short hour he had to wait was too long for him to keep his eyes open. When he woke up, all the lights had been turned off and the holonet was also off, he checked the clock on the wall and fell off the couch, it was midnight. On the first day with his squad he had slept through rec time and no one had bothered to wake him. He frantically gathered himself off the floor and tried to figure out what to do, it was senseless to wake everyone up with a ruckus. He stood up and began to walk toward one of the bedrooms when all the lights suddenly turned on, blinding him temporarily. A group of men rushed the room dressed in all black carrying what seemed like weapons. Iggy began swinging his fists wildly, his eyes had not adjusted yet but he wasn't about to get shot. Something knocked him down and then he heard laughing.

"This was way too easy, you can tell he was under someone's boot his whole career."

When his eyes adjusted he saw seven men, all older than he was but not by much. He suddenly had anger flared up and he jumped up and threw a punch at the closest one who had made the comment earlier. Without flinching the man stopped his punch and in one swift movement his legs were swept out from under him again and he was on the ground again. A hand reached down and helped him up, he rubbed his back, and this was the second time today that it had been abused.

"Don't worry kid, each and everyone one of us has had a trick pulled on us back in the day."

"Who are you guys?" Iggy asked, looking around.

"We're Phalanx Squad, and this is your welcoming party." The leader said with a big smile.

Iggy had to smile, he knew he would love this squad even though he wasn't used to being the youngest. Over the next few days he went through intensive training to become part of the team, he knew that he had to gain a solid trust with each and every member of the squad in order to work as a team during any mission. They worked together in pairs, with the exception of master sergeant Briggs. Zeshaun was partnered with the most experienced of the squad, Sergeant Craig Mitchell. The two of them became nearly best friends before the week was up and by the time they were strapping up and stepping into the shuttle, they were nearly brothers.

*+One week after joining the squad+*

"Craig!" Iggy shouted across the courtyard. "Hurry up, we're gonna miss the shuttle!"

"That's Sergeant Mitchell to you!" He shouted back waving Iggy off.

Iggy laughed and then walked into the hangar, the shuttle was not even warming up yet but the crew was still there setting up. Iggy was so eager to go on his first mission with his new squad, the change of scene was much better than he ever expected and he was almost glad that he had been so persistent with his old squad leader. But he always kept that little reminder in the back of his mind, he wasn't the center of the world and everyone didn't want to be his friend.

Twenty minutes later the rest of the squad came in one at a time, but all within minute of each other. The last one in was master sergeant Briggs and he boarded the shuttle after everyone was already strapped into the shuttle and ready to go.

"What took you so long serge?" One of the troopers asked.

"None of your business." Briggs said with a coy smile.

Iggy laughed as the shuttle door began to close. The shuttle shook and it took off, the soft hum of the engine made it easy to fall asleep to pass time as the shuttle took its long journey to their target. They had been briefed only shortly before departure, the mission was supposed to be kept low key, with as little collateral damage as possible and with as little civilian death as possible. But the parameters set by the administrations made it much harder than it had to be. Iggy didn't doubt that their squad could successfully complete the mission but he wasn't sure at what cost.


End file.
